


cold nights (without you)

by x215zimer



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Childhood Memories, F/F, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Takes Place In S2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 05:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20559134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x215zimer/pseuds/x215zimer
Summary: It's been a long time since Adora had Catra to keep her nightmares away. One night before she invades a Horde fortress, she receives an unexpected visitor. Takes place before S2E4 “Roll with it”





	cold nights (without you)

Catra never hated the Rebellion more until this moment. She hated the shiny look everything had, the fancy attire they wore even to battle, and the bad taste in friends. She could even understand the pompousness to everything princesses did. After all, she would act like that if she had that kind of power since the day she was born. What she couldn’t abide by were bad defenses. So now here she was, quietly creeping through a Rebel camp trying to steal secret information, weapons, or maybe a princess again despite how bad that went last time.

She had spotted the Rebellion camp outside the fortress she was in charge of and had immediately decided to investigate. Seeing an opportunity to sabotage the invasion force before it could begin, she waited until nightfall to spy on them. As she reached what she decided to be the most ornate tent, Catra listened carefully for anyone inside. After being greeted by silence, she carefully pulled open the tent flaps and slipped into the room. It was amateur really; how easy she could sneak in undetected. As if hearing that thought, a voice called out to her.

“Catra,” Adora said.

Freezing in place for only a second, Catra turned smoothly, almost lazily, to face her, to say whatever she would need to distract her to escape. Of course Adora would be up late planning. Instead of her ex-best friend standing ready for a fight, she sat hunched over a table, fast asleep.

Bewildered, Catra stared dumbly at Adora’s sleeping form, until she cried out again.

“Catra,” she said, a note of fear creeping into her voice. “We shouldn’t-,” she said as her words became indistinct. She shifted in her sleep reaching for something, or someone, that wasn’t there.

Catra almost ignored her to loot the room, but Adora let out another sad whimper in her sleep, clearly troubled by whatever she was dreaming of. She couldn’t exactly leave empty handed, but if Adora woke up she would be doing just that. Sighing, Catra moved and knelt next to Adora.

“It’s okay, Shadow Weaver can’t get us anymore. I made sure of that,” she said soothingly, placing one hand in Adora’s. “Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself.”

Adora seemed to hear her and shifted in her sleep, clutching Catra’s hand before mumbling a few more words and then relaxing. 

Honestly, the Rebellion was making her soft. She never would have talked in her sleep at the Horde, Catra thought. She never let her guard down like this when she had nightmares in the Fright Zone. As Catra pulled her hand back from Adora’s, Adora frowned in her sleep and her hand moved towards Catra’s.

“Please, don’t go,” she said softly, before curling tighter.

Catra really wasn’t enjoying the mix of emotions and memories this was bringing back.

* * *

_  
Catra lay on her bed, listening to the quiet cries coming from the bunk below. This was the third night in a row that Adora had night terrors and so far Catra was the only one who had noticed. She had woken up from her own nightmare a few minutes before and had been trying to fall back asleep, but the fear in Adora’s voice kept her from relaxing._

_A few minutes passed and Catra thought she had fallen back asleep and felt herself drifting off, when a voice called her awake._

_“Catra, are you awake?” Adora asked._

_“No,” she responded as seriously as she could. The small laugh she got in response lifted her heart a bit._

_“Then how are you talking to me?” Adora said._

_“I’m sleep talking because I’m asleep, like you should be,” Catra replied. Adora snorted as she laughed again. Falling silent, Catra thought she had gone back to sleep before Adora continued nervously._

_“Well, I had a nightmare. Could you… come down here and sit with me for a bit?” Adora asked._

_As Catra lay in silence for a moment, Adora began to backpedal while keeping her voice down._

_“It’s okay if you don’t want to, we’re both too old for nightmares. Shadow Weaver said so, and I don’t want to bother you, so I’ll just go back to sleep,” she said. Before she could stop, a soft thud came from behind her and she felt Catra curl up behind her._

_“Don’t be scared. We look out for each other, remember?” Catra said._

_As the two lay together, Catra could hear Adora’s breath even out as she fell asleep. Not willing to leave her friend alone for the night, she shifted behind Adora until she was comfortable as she fell asleep. But before she did, she felt Adora’s hand move back and hold her own and Catra gently squeezed it to remind Adora that she was still there before finally falling asleep.  
_

* * *

That had been years ago, but the memory was still fresh in her mind. The two of them grew out of their nightmares soon after, but they still enjoyed spending the night together, quietly reveling in each other’s presence.

Groaning internally, she decided that whatever consequences from what happened next was a problem for future Catra. Careful to not disturb the woman sleeping in front of her, she moved slowly until she was behind Adora, still holding her hand. Almost habitually, she reached up to Adora’s head, pulling her hair out of the ponytail she always forgot to take out when she went to sleep. As Adora continued to talk in her sleep, she began running her fingers through her hair, softly whispering that there wasn’t anything to worry about, that everything was fine, that she wasn’t going to leave. At least for now she wasn’t, but she wouldn’t tell that to Adora.

As she did this Adora relaxed until she was lying completely on her side on the pillows below, pulling Catra behind her. Looking at her face, Catra couldn’t believe how little it had changed despite how much everything else had. As the minutes dragged by, Catra decided that the night had been a bust. She wasn’t going to be taking anything this time. But looking at Adora’s sleeping face, peaceful now because Catra was there for her, despite everything between them, made her feel like the night hadn’t been entirely wasted.

As she drew herself up Adora moved around uncomfortably until Catra squeezed her hand to let her know she hadn’t left yet. When Adora finally settled, Catra took one last look at the sleeping face of the woman who had become her enemy. Leaning down, she planted a kiss to her forehead before turning to leave.

“Bye, Adora,” she whispered. “It’s been fun.”

As if hearing her, Adora’s face relaxed into a small smile. Finally letting go of Adora’s hand, she turned to the entrance where the sky was already beginning to lighten into dawn. Catra rubbed at her eyes. _The princesses coated everything in perfume_, she thought. Had to be. No other reason for her eyes to be watering. _Scorpia can handle the fort for once_, she thought. _I’ve got better things to do than hang around here_. In the morning Adora reached out for someone but found empty air again. She didn’t know why but she found herself hoping Catra would be in charge of the Horde forces nearby, against all odds to be at this faraway fortress, waiting for her to arrive.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick fic that was finished back in S2 that I just forgot?? It was already finished but I guess I forgot. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


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